The verdict is in. Passengers across the country have selected William P. Hobby Airport (HOU) as the number one airport in the country for customer satisfaction. Houston’s second-largest airport was selected, this year, as the top-pick among travelers in the United States who were surveyed by J.D. Power and Associates for an Aviation Week traveler satisfaction report. J.D. Power and Associates is an internationally-recognized global marketing firm that annually measures quality and customer satisfaction in various industries based upon the responses of millions of consumers.

© Houston Airport System Hobby is the nation's favorite airport.

For the past six years, the marketing firm has been working with Aviation Week – the largest multimedia information and services provider to the aviation, aerospace and defense industry – to rate airports and airlines across the country in customer satisfaction.

“Airports are key economic development tools for the communities that own and operate them,” said Tom Henricks, president, Aviation Week. “By highlighting the performances of airports across North America, the study will help the airport industry meet growing customer expectations while also increasing operational efficiency.”

Airports rated in the survey are divided into three separate categories: large (30 million or more passengers per year), medium (10 million to less than 30 million passengers per year) and small (less than 10 million passengers per year). With more than 8.2 million passengers served in 2005, HOU was rated under the category of small airports.

Customer satisfaction is based upon eight factors: airport accessibility, check-in/baggage check, security check, terminal facilities, food and beverage, retail services, baggage claim and immigration/customs control.

For Hobby passengers, the determining factor in selecting the airport as their favorite was the airport’s terminal facilities, the study revealed. Airport manager Mary Case received the news with a sense of fulfillment.

“Nothing is more important to us than customer satisfaction,” she said. “Everything we do here is geared toward making sure the customer experience at Hobby Airport is a pleasant one. Knowing that the traveling public appreciates what we do is very rewarding.”

In the same study, Houston’s largest airport, Bush Intercontinental (IAH) came in at the top-third of large US airports, at number five, for overall customer satisfaction. Houston-based Continental Airlines, IAH’s primary carrier, was rated the number one traditional network airline in the nation for customer satisfaction.

Hobby newcomer, JetBlue Airways meanwhile was selected as the number one low-cost carrier airline in the country for customer satisfaction – Southwest Airlines, which also operates out of HOU, came in at number two.

Copyright © 2006 - Houston Airport System